


Stealing Back a Soul

by kattahj



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Season/Series 01, Rescue, Romance, Singing, the whole band appear but it's willex centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27370513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kattahj/pseuds/kattahj
Summary: Alex can't rest until he knows that Willie is safe - even if it means going back to face Caleb himself.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 56
Kudos: 174





	1. Intro (Luke's POV)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to twiceturned and thatphannieperson for the beta!  
> Each chapter in this is pretty short - if you prefer long chapters, you can always choose to view the entire work!

There was something off about the rehearsal.

Luke was pretty sure it wasn’t the song - in fact, he would say it was one of the best he had written yet - and Julie was on fire, as always. But somehow the whole thing didn’t lift as it should have.

It wasn’t the lyrics, or the melody, or the bass…

The beat. The beat was weak, and then it was _off_ , and Luke stopped singing, waving for the others to be silent.

“Are you okay back there, man?” he asked.

Alex gave a long, shaky sigh. “I’m just so worried about him.”

There was no need to ask who. Alex had been searching for Willie for days, at first excited to show that their stamps were off, then increasingly subdued, and finally with a tinge of panic.

“Still no sign of him, huh?”

“I’ve been looking all over, every single place we’ve been! Except…”

“Except where?” Reggie asked, sounding encouraging.

“The club,” Luke said heavily. “You think Caleb has him?”

“That’s the _best_ case scenario.” Alex's eyes welled up. “If he’s still at the club, at least there’s some hope, but for all I know, maybe he’s gone for good. Maybe Caleb destroyed him.” He put the drumsticks down and got up, pacing the floor. “I’ve got to go get him. If he’s still there, I’ve got to go get him.”

“ _That_ doesn’t seem like the best idea,” Reggie said, wincing. “We barely escaped last time.”

“Yeah, I don’t see any way of getting in without Caleb noticing,” Luke agreed. “Security was tight on that place.”

Reggie perked up. “Unless we put on disguises!”

That was such a Reggie suggestion. “Like what,” Luke asked, rolling his eyes. “False beards?”

“Do you think that would work? Where do you get good false beards? They’d have to be professional, not just something from Walmart. Maybe we could raid a movie studio?”

Alex groaned and buried his face in his hands.

Julie had been sitting quietly by the piano, chewing her nail, but now she offered, “Maybe I could go. He doesn’t know me.”

“Absolutely not,” Luke said. If he’d had a pulse it would have been racing at the mere suggestion. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”

“Yeah, but I could help you guys. Maybe I’ve got some sort of power against him.”

“Well, we’re not testing that theory!”

“I think you’d need the personal connection to make it work,” Alex said, raising his head again, though his face looked as grim as before. “I appreciate the offer, Jules, but there’s nothing you can do. Nothing any of you can do. I’m the only one who stands even the slightest chance here.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Luke said, and okay, that came out harsher than intended. “You want to sneak in there alone? Or just march up to Caleb and say, Villain, release my boyfriend!”

“He’s not my… You know what?” Something shifted in Alex's face. “Maybe that _is_ what I need to do.”

Damn, he was serious.

“Alex!” Luke reached out a hand, but before he could grab hold of Alex and shake some sense into him, Alex had poofed out.

Reggie’s eyes went wide. “Did he just go back to the club? Should we go after him?”

_Of course_ , Luke wanted to say. _All for one and one for all. We’ve been through too much to desert one of our own in times of need._

But last time, they’d been stuck in that place until Julie sang them out, and then she’d had to save them from dying all over again, and now Alex had gone back without _any_ sort of plan beyond love and sheer panic. All they’d accomplish by rushing after him would be three getting caught instead of one.

So instead, reluctantly, Luke said, “Let’s give him a moment. See what happens.”


	2. First verse (Alex's POV)

Alex landed by the front door of the Hollywood Ghost Club, the hotel walls looking even taller and more foreboding than before. The doors were locked and bolted, but he slipped through them and started down the corridor, where he was immediately halted by a uniformed guard.

“Members only,” the guard said.

Alex tried to keep his voice steady. “I’m here to see Willie.”

The guard raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing, and Alex nervously shoved his hands in his pockets, only to think better of it and cross his arms instead.

“I’m here to see Willie,” he repeated, “and I’m not leaving until I have.”

There was a slight hint of a smirk on the stern face. “You want to bet?”

Alex was shoved back against the wall with 250 pounds of muscle power and who knew how much more ghost power. For a second he could have sworn he felt his sternum break. Even in his current ghost state, he had to fight for the next breath.

A woman passed by wearing a sparkling dark-red dress, a saxophone case slung over her shoulder. Alex called out to her, “Tell Willie I’m here to see him!”

She gave him an odd look and continued on her way, but the guard, eyes still on Alex, said, “Actually, Gladys? Tell Caleb the drummer’s here.”

 _The_ drummer, meaning Alex was still on Caleb’s radar. He bit his lip and tried to stop himself from shivering. This could be a good thing. If Caleb was interested enough, he might actually let Alex see Willie as a way to rope him in

Yeah. Like a cat letting the mouse sniff the cheese before it pounced. Terrific.

Time had been moving in strange ways ever since they became ghosts, but Alex was pretty sure that the wait was just as long and torturous as it felt. When the guard opened the doors to let some rich and powerful lifers through to gawk at the undead, Alex longed to throw himself out there and teleport as fast and far away as he could. Instead, he pressed himself against the wall and closed his eyes, counting slowly inside his head.

He had reached 1243 when he heard Caleb’s silken voice.

“I was wondering if we’d see you again.”

Alex opened his eyes. Caleb was grinning, stretching his neck side-to-side as if he’d been sitting in an uncomfortable position. Could ghosts get cricks in their necks?

They could certainly get a lot worse pains than that, thought Alex, flinching slightly at the memory of the stamp. In order not to run away, he stepped closer instead and balled his hands into fists.

“I’m here to see Willie,” he said once more.

“William has broken the terms of his contract in the most severe ways. And you…” Caleb circled him, still smiling. “You left very rudely last time. Why should I grant you any favors?”

“Because you want me here. Us. The band.”

“Are you offering a trade?”

“No. I don’t even know if Willie’s here or not, but if he is, I want to see him. And talk to him.”

“And after that?”

“After that… we’ll see.”

Caleb laughed. “Ah, young love. Makes you feel so brave, doesn’t it?”

The truth was, Alex felt like jello on a spinning plate, but giving in to that feeling would mean losing Willie forever.

“What are you afraid of?” he asked. “This entire place is full of your cronies. Do you think Willie and I stand a chance against that?”

“Not at all - but you do, don’t you?” Caleb looked thoughtful, then nodded slowly. “Hope is the most cruel companion of all, and I _am_ looking to punish the boy. Very well. Come with me.”

Instead of continuing down the corridor to the club, Caleb went in the other direction, down a simple, dark staircase leading backstage. There were people bustling around in preparation for the show, but Caleb snapped his fingers and they vanished.

One person remained, in a suit and pink blazer, his long hair slicked back into a ponytail.

“Alex,” Willie breathed.

Alex didn’t bother to cross the room - he rematerialized right in front of Willie and took his hands in his own. “Hey.”

“I thought you crossed over.”

“I didn’t. Don’t worry,” he added as Willie turned their hands over to look for Caleb’s stamp. “I’m okay. I just needed to know that you are too.”

Willie shook his head slowly, eyes darting to Caleb. “You shouldn’t have done that. Just get out, don’t worry about me.”

Despite his words, Willie’s grip hardened, and Alex squeezed his hands back.

“I can’t do that.” It was far too early for any kind of declaration, but if Alex screwed this one up, he wouldn’t get another chance. “I love you.”

Before anyone had time to react to that - least of all himself - he leaned in closer and caught Willie’s lips in a kiss.

Alex hadn’t kissed anyone since before his ghost days, but after a split second, Willie returned the kiss, the tip of his tongue teasing Alex's mouth in a way that shot shivers down his spine and scattered his thoughts.

It was the most glorious sensation… but the tingle Alex had been waiting for, the one he’d felt when Julie vanquished their stamps, didn’t come.

Yet there was _something_ , a shift in the air of some sort. He broke off the kiss and glanced over his shoulder.

Caleb’s expression was hardening. Whatever had happened, it wasn’t something he’d allow.

“Jump,” Alex told Willie, holding on tight as he teleported away.


	3. Second verse (Alex's POV)

They landed in the garage, and Willie immediately doubled over, clutching his head as electricity crackled between his fingers.

“Oh, God, are you okay?” Alex asked, putting his arm around Willie’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, I thought I could help you.”

“You did,” Willie gritted out. The jolts subsided, and he massaged his forehead with the heel of his hand. “You got me out. I haven’t been able to leave in… how long has it been?”

“Four days.”

“Really? Felt a lot longer. Funny, it’s usually the other way around.”

He stood up straight and gave the band a weak wave. “Hey, guys. And… oh, right. Lifer.”

“I have a name. It’s Julie,” Julie said, but there was a soft smile on her face.

Willie blinked. “You can see me?”

“Barely. You’re all transparent… and now you’re gone.”

Alex, who had taken a step forward in surprise, looked back and, on impulse, took Willie’s hand. “How about now?”

“Yup. Hi. You must be Willie.”

“That’s right.” He flashed her a smile, though it was a bit fainter than usual. “Nice to meet you, Julie.”

“Likewise.”

Willie turned to Alex and quirked up his eyebrows. “So, hotdog, didn’t expect to see you again. What do you say we have some fun together, before I have to go back?”

Alex took hold of Willie’s other hand as well and tightened his grip as if he could physically prevent him from disappearing. “You’re not going back.”

The disbelief on Willie’s face was mixed with something Alex rather suspected was pity. “You do understand how these jolts work, right?”

“We’ll find a way to free your soul.” All the conviction came through in Alex's voice, while the doubts gathered in his mind. “I thought I had, back there. That’s why I did it.”

“Did what?”

“Kissed you. And said… what I said.”

Willie’s face immediately closed down. “Oh, is that why you did it?”

“No, I didn’t mean… I mean, I did mean… I…” Alex looked up, silently pleading for some sort of help, though he didn’t know of what kind.

Luke caught his gaze and quickly turned to Julie. “Hey, isn’t it almost your dinnertime? What do you say the three of us go see what Ray’s cooking up?”

“Absolutely,” she agreed. “Come on, Reggie!”

After the others had hurried out of the garage, Willie smirked at Alex. “Subtle.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry…”

“Don’t be. We’re not at that point in the relationship yet. I get it.” He sat down on the floor with his knees up, and patted for Alex to join him there. “Thanks for trying.”

Awkwardly, Alex sat down too. There were no visible jolts going through Willie now, but he still moved as if every part of him was weighed down by heavy chains.

“How bad was it, in there?”

Willie swallowed, and it took a moment before he answered. “It’s not that I don’t like dancing, but when there’s nothing else… never going outside. Can’t go anywhere at all Caleb hasn’t approved of, and it hurts to try.” In sudden furor, he ripped off the pink blazer and tossed it aside, then removed the hair tie and shook out his long locks.

Alex unbuttoned the cuff of Willie’s shirt and expected to see a stamp underneath. Instead, there was a web of thin purple lines. Ghost skin couldn’t bleed and welt, the way a human’s would, but the way Willie’s flesh blurred around each line looked just as painful.

“He’s torturing you!?”

“Just when I try to leave.”

“You mean like right now?”

Willie waved that off. “They were much deeper before, it’s not so bad now. Whatever you did, it…” He broke off and clutched his head as another jolt exploded around it.

“Not so bad, huh?”

“Alex. Listen to me.” Willie took Alex's hand, his own shaking ever so slightly. “I’ve seen this done a bunch of times, I know how long it takes. I doubt Caleb will go through the trouble of hunting me down. That means we have days, maybe weeks, before I have to go back. I will not waste the only time I’ll get with you fretting over the inevitable.”

“It’s not inevitable! We got rid of our stamps!”

Willie frowned. “How _did_ you do that?”

“Julie. She hugged us, told us she loved us.” Alex searched his memory for more details, but couldn’t think of any, beyond the warm glow he’d felt.

“So that’s why you thought it would work,” Willie said slowly, then smiled. “We could always give the kissing a second try?”

Kissing just for fun seemed frivolous considering the circumstances, but the offer was too tempting to resist. Alex leaned in and took those lips in his own again. Willie’s hand was caressing his thigh, and both of his own flew up to the base of Willie’s head, playing in the long hair.

A long while later, they broke off, faces still inches away from each other. “Totally worth it,” Willie murmured, and though he was too close for Alex to see the smirk, he _heard_ it, and it made him tear up.

“How can you be so calm about this?”

“I thought you were gone forever,” Willie said softly. “That I’d just be dancing every night, hoping that eventually Caleb would get tired of punishing me and I could go skate again. This is a gift. I get to spend more time with you, build some memories, and when I’m back there, I can know that you’re alright. That maybe, some day, we may even be able to meet again.”

“And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?” Alex rubbed at his burning eyes. “Just forget that you’re being tortured? Pretend that it doesn’t matter? Do you really think I can do that?”

“No, I know you can’t.” Willie sighed. “I don’t have a solution. If it makes you feel better, I wasn’t tricked, the way you and your bandmates were. I signed my soul away on purpose.”

“Why would you do that!?”

“I was scared, I guess.” Willie wrapped his arms around his knees, and his gaze drifted far away. “One moment I was skating down the street, and the next everything was blurry and weird and someone kept talking to me in a foreign language. Or possibly in English, my brain was pretty scrambled.

”When things finally cleared up, no one was talking to me at all anymore, because they couldn’t see me, or hear me. Didn’t matter where I went, who I tried, it was always the same, until Caleb showed up. He offered me a place at his club, said I could go skating in my off-time as long as I followed his rules and was always at the club when I needed to be.

“It didn’t seem like such a bad deal, working there forever. Glitz and glamour, and food, and people who could see me. If I stepped out sometimes and found that a month had passed since the night before - well, what’s a month when you have eternity? So, you know, I brought this on myself.”

Alex had a strong urge to put his fist through something, preferably Caleb. At least when he’d died, his bandmates had been with him. He couldn’t imagine having to face it alone. “Really? Because it seems to me like you were in a vulnerable place and he took advantage.”

“Yeah,” Willie admitted, and then doubled over when another jolt hit. “Oh wow, I think he heard that.”

Rubbing circles into Willie’s back, Alex mulled the details of that night after playing the Orpheum, over and over, searching for something new. “Did Caleb say anything about what made us special?”

“Just that you were too powerful, and that he needed you working for him.”

“Playing in his little houseband?” Alex scoffed, and then his hand stilled. “Maybe that’s it. The music. I should write you a song.”

That caused Willie to burst into a breath of surprised laughter. “What?”

“It’s worth a try, isn’t it? Stay where you are. I’m going to go talk to Luke.”


	4. Bridge (Alex's POV)

The Molinas were still dining, and the guys watching the Molinas, when Alex popped into the dining room and grabbed Luke.

“Will you help me write a song?”

“What?”

“Yeah, I think…” Alex halted and looked helplessly out at the other two. “Can I borrow him for a while? I’ll fill you in later, I promise.”

“Go ahead,” Reggie said, and Julie nodded discreetly.

Luke shrugged a little and followed Alex into the kitchen. “So, a song?”

Alex squirmed under Luke’s gaze, even though there was no judgment in it.

“Yeah. Think about it. Caleb wanted to use our music. People can hear us when we play, and see us when we play with Julie. Maybe that’s what I need to break Willie’s contract. Love isn’t enough, I need to harness it through music.”

Realizing the word he’d let out, Alex bit his lip and looked down.

“Alright,” Luke said and hopped onto the counter. “What do you want in it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t write songs.”

“Okay, so… how about you start by telling me about Willie?”

“I don’t know very much. He never liked talking about himself. I know he died in a traffic accident, and that he likes skating, and…”

“Not facts,” Luke interrupted. “How does he make you feel? What do you guys do together?”

Alex wetted his lips. “That’s kind of… personal, isn’t it?”

“Alex.” Luke’s voice was gentle, but determined. “I think you’re onto something here, but if you want it to work, you can’t half-heart it. Personal is what we’re aiming for.”

“And are you… you know… okay with that?”

“100 percent. You said something once about yelling?”

“Oh, yeah, in a museum. It sounds weird, when I say it like that. The thing is, I was really nervous, I thought he liked me but I wasn’t sure, and he could tell that I was getting wound up, so he told me to yell, said that it would help… and it did.”

“Good, that’s good,” Luke said, taking out a notebook from his pocket and jotting things down. “And you’ve got a beat, too.”

He nodded towards Alex's fingers, which were tapping against the counter. It had only been a nervous habit, but Luke was right, there had been a rhythm to it, and a pretty good one, too.

“How about something like this?” Luke asked, humming a few bars.

Alex brightened. “Yes! That would be great! Except maybe up, instead of down?”

“Hmm, yeah, that could work. Depends on the lyrics, too.” Luke leaned in closer, and his eyes glittered. “Give me some more. What made you fall in love with him? Talk to me.”

So Alex talked, and Luke wrote. When Julie’s dad entered with the dirty dishes, the two of them moved into the now empty dining room and continued there.

At one point, Willie popped in, brows knitted in impatience.

“No, not yet!” Alex protested. “I mean, sorry, are you okay?”

“No worse than before,” Willie said. “Getting restless. Will you be done soon?”

“I don’t know. Not for a while, I think.” He got up and pressed a quick kiss to Willie’s lips. Funny how natural that felt, on only the third try. “Can you go wait somewhere? I don’t want you to hear it until it’s ready.”

Willie sighed and grabbed Alex around the back of his head. “How can I say no to you, hotdog? Alright. Don’t take too long. I want to spend some quality time with you before I…”

Alex put a finger against Willie’s lips. “Don’t say ‘go back’. It’s not happening.”

“Look who’s all decisive,” Willie teased. “I’ll be in the garden. Wandering and waiting.”

With that, he popped out again.

“He seems to be taking it well,” Luke said.

“Seems to,” Alex said bitterly, the conversation from before still fresh in his memory. “I think he thinks that if he pretends to be okay, then it won’t hurt me as much. He doesn’t believe I can save him, you know. But I will.” He took the notebook from Luke’s hand. “What else have you got?”

Luke snatched it back. “The stuff you just said, for starters.”

“I can barely read your handwriting,” Alex complained, looking over his shoulder. “Is that ‘spark’?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s kind of a you and Julie word, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Luke asked, shifting a little.

“You guys use it all the time in your songs. Wouldn’t it be weird if I used it about Willie?”

“Why would it? It’s not like we _own_ the word. But if you don’t think it fits…”

“No, it does,” Alex admitted. “It’s… true.”

Luke grinned. “Yeah, it is. You think you can pull this off and play the drums too?”

That made Alex's thoughts grind to a halt. “Me? You want me to sing it?”

“Obviously.”

“I thought you were singing it!”

“Uh, no. I’m not serenading your boyfriend. First of all, that would be weird. Second, we’re trying to pull off love magic here, remember? No half-hearting it.”

“Let’s not call it… and he’s not my... I can’t…”

“If you’re about to say ‘I can’t sing’, I will have you locked up like the liar you are.”

“But I…” There was no use arguing, Luke had a point. The beat wasn’t all that complicated; as long as they didn’t add too many verses, Alex might be able to pull it off. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Luke echoed. “Good. Let’s add a few more lines, maybe a bridge, and then we’ll call in the others to finish the tune and harmonize.”


	5. First chorus (Willie's POV)

Willie had to admit that the garden was pretty nice, especially after all that time stuck in the club. As a kid, he would stop and look at houses like this, big houses with gardens, and dream of a future where he lived in one. Now, what he appreciated the most about it was the sunlight and the quiet. He sat down on the steps, leaned back, and closed his eyes, trying to relax, though the intermittent jolts of pain made it hard.

Truth was, the pain wasn’t the worst of it. It couldn’t be helped, but the garden was lacking something - specifically, a jittery blond drummer ghost with a gorgeous face and an impossibly large heart.

For the past - god, how could it only have been four days? - Willie had lived on the hope that Alex had crossed over, but sometimes, when things got really bad, he’d selfishly wished that Caleb had succeeded in roping the band in, because even torture would have been more tolerable with Alex there.

Instead, in an inexplicable miracle, Alex and his friends had been set free, and then Alex had turned straight around and marched into the mouth of danger to save _him_ …

He wasn’t worth it. Not after what he’d put them through. Sure, he could try to tell himself that he hadn’t known what would follow after he introduced them to Caleb, but there were only so many times you could turn a blind eye.

Alex still believed in him. Alex had said… and okay, maybe that part wasn’t exactly true, but the attempt in itself was enough to make Willie’s heart soar.

He hadn’t known that it was possible to need another person this much. He missed Alex, who was only a few yards away in the house right in front of him. He missed Alex even more than he missed his board, which had been his constant comfort since his living days and was probably lost forever.

He could always get a new board.

Another jolt reverberated through his skull and made him wish he could still throw up. Fists closed in defiance, he opened his eyes and stood up, screaming out his frustration, regret, and relief. Maybe it could even be heard inside. If so, it could serve as a reminder to Alex to hurry up a little.

“Okay,” Willie said quietly, laughing at his own absurdity. “That helped.”

“Hi?” a light voice said from the end of the path.

He turned his head. The lifer. Julie. For a moment, he thought she’d heard him, but then he remembered that she could only do that when he was holding on to Alex, and that she wasn’t even looking in the right direction.

It was still him she was talking to.

“I don’t know if you’re out here. Alex said you might be. You’ve been waiting for quite some time now.”

There was an empty watering can by the flower bed; he kicked it over, and she turned that way.

“Oh! Hi! There you are. Is everything good?”

Well, that was a heck of a question to answer. He kicked the can a bit further, figuring that she could interpret that any way she liked.

“Good. Good. I want you to know that Alex is working really hard, and so is Luke, and I don’t know if they can do what they’re trying to do, but… Alex really cares about you.”

“I care about him too,” Willie said. It felt important to say it out loud, even though she couldn’t hear him.

“I’m really happy he found you. I know things got complicated, but on the whole, it was a good thing. He was always so giddy when he’d been with you, and he deserves that. He’s such a nice guy, and you seem like a nice guy too, and of course you’re drop dead… um…” She looked down and scraped at the gravel with her toe. “I mean, he’s got good taste.”

Willie laughed, though his eyes were misty. “Thanks.”

Julie paused for a moment, then said, “Okay, that’s what I wanted to say. I’m inside, if you need me.”

With that, she left, and Willie sat back down, settling in for another long wait.

Less than a minute later, someone popped into place next to him. It was the final member of the band, the bassist. Reggie.

“Julie said to check in on you,” Reggie said. “How are you holding up?”

“Fine, I guess,” Willie said, and forced himself to smile. “It’s getting a bit boring out here.”

“I hear ya. You know, an upside of Alex's brain being like _brrr_ \- “ Reggie spun his finger around like a hamster wheel “ - is that all that overthinking means he ends up with a lot of thoughts. He’s probably got backup plans from A to Z by now. Not to mention a kickass song, what little I heard of it.”

“Good to know.” All these people, wanting to make sure he was okay for no other reason than that he mattered to Alex, and Alex mattered to them. “You guys are pretty tight, huh?”

“You betcha. In fact, I kind of feel like I should be threatening you. Except I don’t think there’s anything I could do to you that would be worse than what Caleb would do to you. Sorry.”

“That’s true,” Willie said mildly.

“Just… don’t hurt him, okay?”

He’d never been given the shovel talk before, and he’d certainly not expected it to come from a slim seventeen-year-old kid with the soul of an overeager puppy. Part of him wanted to laugh, but the core - _don’t hurt him_ \- was dead serious.

“If this doesn’t work, I can hold out a little longer, but not forever. I wouldn’t know how to cross over, and I’m not brave enough to stay until I run out of time. Sooner or later, I’ll return to the club, and that _will_ hurt him.”

“Okay,” Reggie said slowly. “But what if it does work?”

If it worked. If he could have his soul back, and do what he wanted with it, and go anywhere in the world - well, then there was only one answer, wasn’t there?

“Alex is a gift. No one has ever done anything for me that comes even close to what he’s trying to do.”

“You did it for us.”

“After I got you in trouble in the first place! You all trusted me, Alex trusted me, and I should have been able to protect him, because he’s so…”

“What?”

“Good. He’s so _good_ , and he’s funny, and smart, and super hot…”

Reggie turned beet red. “Okay. Hrmm. I guess?”

The front door opened and Julie stepped outside. “Reggie? We’re ready to rehearse now.”

“Right! Of course!” Reggie stood up and brushed some nonexistent dirt from his pants. He started walking towards the garage, then paused and turned towards Willie. “By the way, that was a pretty good answer. I don’t think I have to threaten you.”


	6. Second chorus (Willie's POV)

For the next hour or so, Willie could hear little bits of music drifting into the garden. Not loud enough for any lyrics, just the drum beat - _Alex_ \- and Reggie’s bass, sometimes a few bars of guitar or piano. He was tempted to come closer and listen properly, but somehow it felt like cheating, like he was at the doors of death and not allowed to look back. Which was ridiculous, because he was definitely the Eurydice in this story.

His headaches were getting more persistent too, which oddly enough made him more hopeful. Whatever was going on, the magic done to bind him didn’t like it one bit.

At long last, Alex stuck his head out the garage door and called, “We’re ready now!”

Willie popped to his side in an instant.

“Sorry it took so long,” Alex said. His hair was mussed, his eyes wide, and he looked, if possible, even more beautiful than usual. “Where do you want to sit? Audience spot, over here? Or maybe behind me, or to the side, so we’re close in case anything happens?”

“As close as I can. As long as I don’t cramp your style.”

“You could never cramp my style. Help me move the chair.”

Willie did as told, and then settled down while the band got ready to play.

Alex started off with the by now familiar beat, then Julie laid down a chord and the other two followed. Leaning into the microphone rigged on his drum set, Alex started singing:

_“I never saw a happy ending before you_

_You made me realize that there's so much more to do”_

Willie’s hand flew up to his mouth, and he fully understood now why Caleb had been so persistent, how Julie and the Phantoms had managed to get a gig at the Orpheum with nothing more than a YouTube video and some vehicular mischief. This music was on a whole new level, and that wasn’t even touching on the lyrics.

_“Yelling at the top of my lungs_

_This song has to be sung_

_And I'm beating this rhythm for you”_

Willie grinned. He wanted nothing more than to throw his arms around Alex and kiss him breathless, but interrupting now would be a crime.

_“We may be dead but this isn't the ending_

_Our story has it all, there's no use pretending_

_That you could ever be okay_

_With scraps from yesterday_

_When you know what I'm saying is true“_

That brought the tears, and damn it, Alex was right, Willie hadn’t been fighting hard enough. Yes, Caleb was powerful, yes, Willie had made some mistakes along the way, but none of that was reason to just lay back and take it, not when _this_ was the alternative. He’d never give up on this, not ever, he’d let his whole head split in two first.

_“You saved me before, I'm saving you back_

_And we can keep saving each other til it all goes black_

_Your smile is the spark I need to survive_

_You make me feel alive”_

Instrumental after that, with a drum solo that sent Willie’s heart racing and strange tingles running through his body. Then back into the chorus, and okay, maybe Willie couldn’t break the song off to make out with Alex right this minute, but there was one thing he could do, and he leaned forward, unfastening the microphone from the stand to sing along.

_“Your smile is the spark I need to survive_

_You make me feel alive”_

It was like being raised through the skies and plunged down into a tub of hot water at the same time. His chest expanded, his head swam, and every nerve in his skin fired up at once.

Alex dropped the drumsticks and stood up, just in time to catch Willie as his legs buckled. Willie, not to be deterred any longer, settled his hands on Alex's hips and gave him a long, deep kiss.

“You crazy bastard,” he mumbled.

“Is that any way of saying thank you?” Alex teased.

“Thank you! Thank you, thank you!”

“Mission accomplished,” Reggie told Luke, and the two of them gave each other a low five, while Julie chuckled a little by her piano.

Willie was only vaguely aware of them. Eager to see with his own eyes that this was really happening, he let go of Alex - who still had a steadying arm around him - and unbuttoned his shirt.

The marks were gone. Both the old one on his chest and the newer binding lines, it was all gone.

He was free. That impossible word. _Free_.

Julie coughed. “Wow, Alex, your boyfriend is really… athletic.”

“He’s not my…” Alex started, and then paused, looking deep into Willie’s eyes. “Are you?”

“You think you can sing to me like that and then deny me a moment later?” Willie asked, grinning. “Of course I’m your boyfriend.”


	7. Outro (Willie's POV)

They went down to the beach, watching the sunset play across the waves, and packs of lifers swimming or sunbathing. Willie was lying with his head in Alex's lap, while Alex played with his hair.

“What do you want to do, now that you’re free?” Alex asked.

“Everything. For starters, I want to take you skating. Like, teach you properly.”

“I’d be terrible,” Alex warned him with a grimace.

“Doesn’t matter. You don’t age, and you can’t break any bones, so we’ll just keep at it until you know how. In fact, I thought we could get a new board when the stores close at eight. Maybe some gear too, and a change of clothes.”

“You want me to rob a sports store with you?”

“Damn right I do! Be gay, do crime!” Willie laughed, then laughed harder when he saw Alex's reaction. “Or I can do it when you’re not there, and you can pretend you don’t know about it.”

“That might be better,” Alex admitted.

“Alright, deal. And then I want to go to every gig you guys have, ever.”

“Hmm.” The tips of Alex's fingers ran across Willie’s neck. It tickled a little. “You could be a backup singer. Got the voice for it.”

“You forget that no one would hear me.”

“I would hear you.”

Willie thought about it. “Nah. I’d be too tempted to mess up the lyrics on purpose, just to throw your bandmates off track.”

“Oh, we can’t have that!”

“Exactly. I’ll just be the best groupie imaginable.”

Alex blanched. “Groupie sounds like you’re going to sleep with the whole band.”

“No, no, no,” Willie assured him. “I’ll be a very exclusive groupie and only sleep with you.” The fingers stilled on his skin, and he frowned at Alex's suddenly serious expression. “Or not. If that’s off the table, it’s fine.”

“It’s not off the table,” Alex said slowly. “It’s just that… I haven’t actually…”

“Oh.” Cursing himself for not thinking of that, Willie sat up, and stroked Alex's cheek. “No worries. We’ll take it as slow as you like.”

“You have, though.”

“I have,” Willie confirmed. The last thing he wanted was to go into details and ruin the moment, so he stuck to saying the important part: “But they weren’t you. It wasn’t… this.”

“This?”

“Love.” He grinned. “I thought I’d put the word out there, since you already have.”

Alex leaned in and caught him in a deep kiss.

When they broke it off, Willie commented, “Not new to the kissing part.”

“I don’t kiss and tell,” Alex said with an unusually cheeky smile.

“Good to know.” Willie came back in for quick seconds, then continued, “We could go on a bunch of dates. Check out the forbidden haunts.”

“Sounds like you’re back at the ‘do crime’ part.”

Willie laughed. “Nah, man, it’s just what we used to call the places Caleb didn’t want us to go. All the terrible dives where the ghosts are masters of their own souls. I hear they have a ghost corner at Mother Lode, we could try that.”

“What’s Mother Lode?”

“Gay bar.” He frowned. “Come on, I know it was around in your time, it’s older than either of us.”

“Oh.” Alex looked a little flustered. “I’ve never been to a gay bar. Did you, back when you were alive?”

“I tried.” He laughed a little at the memory. “Turns out they were really good at spotting fake IDs. But I doubt they’d bother to card us now.”

“Weren’t you… scared?”

That question caught him off guard. He’d been scared plenty of times around drunken straight people, back when they could still hurt him, especially if they were rich and white, too. Gay bars had held a promise of something different, somewhere he could be accepted. “What would I be scared of?”

“I don’t know. AIDS?”

Oh. _That_. Well, he supposed there was no way to avoid admitting his age. “We didn’t know about AIDS yet. It was around, just not on people’s radar. First time I heard the word, I was already dead.”

“I can’t imagine,” Alex said, and that made sense. Seventeen in 1995, that meant growing up in the 80s, right in the middle of the thing.

“Your whole life,” Willie said, shaken by the thought. “That’s all you would have heard, all over. And then you died just before the end of the AIDS crisis. Dude, that sucks!”

“It ended?”

Willie’s eyebrows shot up. “Nobody told you? Yeah, they’ve got really good medicines now, mortality rates are way down, and transmission rates too. What else didn’t they tell you about, gay marriage?”

“That’s a thing?” Alex asked, wide-eyed.

“Heck to the yeah! We can get married now, legal and everything!” Willie paused, and held up a hand. “Just to make clear, when I say ‘we’, I’m not referring to you and me.”

“Oh, come on!” Alex protested and smacked him lightly with the back of his hand, though he was laughing. “I may be quick to _I love you_ , but I have limits!”

“Good to know.” Willie shook his head, thoughts of LGBT+ development over the past 25 years tumbling about in his brain. “Man, were there even any gay characters in media when you grew up who weren’t dying or evil? I can’t remember.”

“Rickie Vasquez,” Alex said immediately.

“Oh, right. Yeah, he was good. Never got a boyfriend, though. Shit, you died before we even got Queer as Folk! Not to mention everything since.” He started rattling off titles of every non-tragic gay film or TV show he could think of, until he got to the first one he’d seen where the protagonist looked anything like him. “The Wedding Banquet, though, that’s early 90s for sure, you must have seen it.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Alex admitted. “Never saw it.”

“And you talk about me doing crime. That’s criminal!”

“I’ve seen Maurice.”

“Happy ending,” Willie said approvingly, then grinned and tugged at Alex's fringe. “Explains the hair too.”

“I do not have Maurice hair!” Alex protested, slapping away the hand, though he was smiling as he did it.

“Eh. Close enough. Wasn’t there an Alex in that film too?”

“Alec. The gamekeeper.”

“Right. The working-class boy our hero falls in love with after the loaded jerk lets him down. Yeah, you could do worse than Maurice. But there’s so much more waiting for you.”

“Movie night, then?” Alex asked, his eyes glittering.

“Like a billion movie nights. But not tonight. I’m going to nick myself a board, with or without you.”

Alex groaned and shook his head slowly. “I guess… I could keep guard outside?”

“Keep guard against what? It’s not like they can catch me.”

“I don’t know. I’d just feel happier, knowing that you’re safe.”

Willie lost his grin, thinking of the one danger they weren’t bringing up. That Caleb was still out there, and might not be happy about losing another one of his possessions. That he’d been using different bodies lately, so they wouldn’t necessarily know who to look out for until it was too late.

Well, he wasn’t about to let fear spoil his afterlife anymore.

“Keeping guard sounds great,” Willie said, taking Alex's hand in his own and lacing their fingers together.


End file.
